Tag Archives: Arlet

As Arlet pulled away from him, Ermengarde stepped up, “Keep you hands off her, or I’ll make the sky rain fire!”

“You’ll what?” He said calmly.

“I’ll make hundreds of lightening balls fall from the sky, burning everything they touch. Let us be on our way and no fire storm will harm you!”

Bardulf’s men grew uneasy, but Bardulf remained impassive. “Alright,” he said, “make it rain!”

For a moment, Ermengarde thought of casting a spell. But she knew Bardulf’s purpose was to draw her out. He still had the upper hand. Her best and only chance was to continue her act. She closed her eyes to muster the energy to burst into foolish tears.

“Oh Bardulf,” she wailed, “you was right. Erlkyng left me with nothing. The only thing I have left is my duty to protect this child. Please don’t harm her.” Ermengarde held Arlet to her breast and stroked her silky blonde hair.

“Bring Grishnack,” Bardulf commanded to one of his men.

Then he studied his captives. “Princess Arlet,” he said, “look at me.” Arlet’s head turned underneath Ermengarde’s gentle hold. When she looked at him, he continued, “tell me, has your nurse, Ermengarde here, has she practiced magic?”

Arlet looked up at her nurse-companion with bewilderment in her widened eyes, “Ermengarde?”

At that moment, the man whom Bardulf summoned, bowed before his master. Ermengarde recognized him from the Court of UR. He answered Bardulf’s muffled questions and departed. “Lord Grishnack informs me that you have, indeed, raised Arlet since her infancy.”

Upon the completion of the kiss, Ermengarde was prepared to act. But her concentration was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a strange flying lizard with leathery wings. The little beast landed on Bardulf’s shoulder and made a startling noise. Arlet screamed and pushed herself away from Bardulf and the creature perched upon his right shoulder. The kiss and the spell had ended.

Arlet turned, wide-eyed and frightened, looking for an escape. “Ermengarde!” Arlet called frantically.

“Ermengarde?” Bardulf said quizzically, “Wait. I know that voice… No, you’re not Ermengarde…” His men, with weapons drawn, pressed in closer upon Ermengarde and her charge. Bardulf laughed. “Ah, yes, I remember,” Bardulf began, “you are Erlkyng’s witch! I wondered what became of you after the old fellow disappeared.” Bardulf walked towards his captives.

As Ermengarde watched him near, she understood the time for magic had passed. This was no charlatan. She would have to rely on guile instead. This man must believe she posed no threat. If she had completely lost her power, how would she act? She would bluff. If she had no powers, she would boast of her great strength.

“So,” Bardulf said, stroking the head of his lizard-creature with a gloved hand, “you want me to believe you are nothing but a powerless old nurse?”

“And YOU want me to believe you have become powerful without an apprenticeship to Erlkyng.”

Bardulf laughed, “So you DO remember.” Bardulf’s laughter grew cold, “I remember too. I was in ernest in my request to learn from that old wizard. And what was it he said to me? To come back when I had learned humility? I was a talented lad. He never even took the time to test me. You call that fair? And I remember you, staring at me with that smug look, telling me humility was a hard lesson, but a necessary one. I hated that smug voice of yours as much as your words. Humility!”

“Humility IS a hard lesson,” Ermengarde interrupted.” She spoke from experience, remembering the sixteen years she posed as a nursemaid, allowing her beauty to be hidden. She added, “and it’s a lesson you still haven’t learned.”

Bardulf looked at her directly and spoke with conviction, “I know what I am and I know what I am capable of doing. Why be humble when opportunities like this one present itself?” By this time, Bardulf was close enough to stroke Arlet’s cheek with the side of his finger. “You know, you do kiss beautifully,” he said to her.

Ermengarde felt a powerful sensation in her belly. The energy shift warned her they were nearing their destination: the dark prince and his magic. Ermengarde started her maneuver by slouching on her horse and wailing loudly. She called to the princess who had rode ahead, “Oh m’ lady, please have pity on an old woman whose bones is aching. Please slow down, miss. I cannot keep up with you…”

Her pleas managed to slow Arlet a pace. As they proceeded, Ermengarde noticed some men watching them from the shadows and branches of the surrounding trees. “Please m’ lady,” she cried, knowing their destination was almost upon them, “can’t we stop now?”

Just then, several men appeared from the shadows and some dropped from the treetops. They were quick in subduing the startled horses. “Oh, oh,” Ermengarde called pitifully, “what’s this?” he men laughed as they lead the horses off the main road onto a small path. They had only travelled a short ways before Ermengarde saw the telltale signs of a military encampment.

When they stopped, Arlet was helped from her horse. Ermengarde was still on her mount when the dark prince approached. He was dressed handsomely in black. When she saw his features, Ermengarde gasped. She knew this man instantly. The years had not changed the glisten in Bardulf’s black eyes and time only enhanced his cruel smile. It was a mistake to have completely dismissed him from her mind.

She slowly dismounted, hoping to be inconspicuous. But all eyes were on Arlet, who walked slowly, but purposefully, towards the prince. Bardulf’s lips curled in a horrid, arrogant smile. When he opened his arms, Ermengarde shuddered. His black cloak reminded her of a bat extending its wings.

Still in a daze, Arlet walked into his outstretched arms and was swallowed by the blackness of his cloak closing tightly around her. Ermengarde counted the moments. She could act if the spell was broken by the embrace. But she knew her hope was foolish when Bardulf drew Arlet into a deep, sustained kiss.